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HIDDINK: ARSHAVIN CAN WIN GOLDEN BALL
Sport Express brings the
large-scaled interview with the head coach of the Russian national team
Guus Hiddink.
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Andrei Arshavin and Guus Hiddink (C) Photo
SPORT EXPESS
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"One should show a stable high level of football for
a long time to claim the golden Ball trophy," said the Dutch specialist.
"And I am sure that Andrei Arshavin is able to do so."
"When he gets fully adapted to the British way of life, such success
can come, because he is not only spectacular but also an effective player."
"For my three years in the Russian national team I have changed my
attitude to Andrei Arshavin. At first I thought that he was not fully
committed to the game for 90 minutes of it."
"And now he is everywhere. It is impossible to lose sight of him
- both on the field and outside it. He is sociable with all his colleagues."
"I have always regarded him a good player but now Andrei became a
more all-round footballer and it appears not only in the game."
"He is a smart player and a smart man. And moreover he is a winner
in his character. All this helped him to get accustomed to England in
a relatively short time. Due to his intelligence he understood what he
needed to break through to the highest football level."
"I was not surprised that Andrei spent his best match in England
[against Blackburn] with a serious injury. That conveys a great deal about
Arshavin."
"I watched the Cup match of the Gunners against Hull City only three
days after Blackburn game. And he wished to play with the just sutured
foot so much - and he did it! He was offered to heal the wound but he
insisted on his playing."
"And the same in the national team. He still has stitches on the
foot, but he trains as well as others. If Andrei thought himself a big
star he would most likely asked for a couple day-offs but he would not
hear about the vacation."
"And it is not England that changed him, it is his own character.
He adjusted himself to the international football standards."
"Andrei could speak English a little bit before he left for Arsenal.
And what is important he was not afraid to do it. Moreover he understood
everything ideally. And now I have found out that he knows English almost
perfectly. He catches everything on the fly."
"I was very pleased to learn that there will be so many supporters
on the match against Azerbaijan in Luzhniki. Still for days to the game
53 thousand tickets were sold. That is the great support and evidence
of acknowledgement."
"I would like to thank people for such great support and I have already
told the team that we must perform well to respond on this. This news
was as pleasant as the atmosphere n the team."
"When we were considering the problem of the stadium for the game
I had no doubts that in should be Luzhniki. I knew that in March the weather
is unpredictable and to play on the grass in snow or slush is not the
best decision. And we did not want to risk."
"To tell the truth when we were making this decision I thought that
there would be fewer supporters than now."
"And that is twice better that so many people could watch the game
with their own eyes. Such attendance is a wonderful thing not only for
the national team but also for the Russian football."
To read the first part of the interview click here.
Sport
Express Daily, 27 Mar 2009
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